2 . Hristo Hristov has been working with wildlife in Bulgaria’s remote Rhodope Mountains for over 30 years. He first came here as a bright-eyed student in the early 1990s, eager to increase the number of griffon vulture (欧亚尤雪). At the time, there were fewer than 20 birds left. Fast forward to November 2020, there were more griffon vultures. At the last count, a record 245 now live in the Rhodope Mountains.

As a rewilding officer, Hristo is responsible for the welfare of the animals in his area, which means constant observation, and lengthy periods out in the wild conducting research. “This process is sometimes long — you have to live together with the animals,” he explains. “Forget everything; you live in nature. It doesn’t matter if they’re horses, wild cattle or European bison (野牛).”

This small corner of south-eastern Europe is one of the continent’s most ecologically diverse areas. Large animals, such as wolves, brown bears, deer, and wild horses, coexist here. It’s also a peaceful place for birdlife, with 300 species recorded. The ultimate goal is to create a habitat where multiple different species depend on one another.

Hristo’s current challenge is to continue the reintroduction of European bison to the wild. Since 2013, Hristo has worked with Rewilding Europe, a not-for-profit organisation which operates across Europe, to bring bison back to the Rhodope Mountains. In 2019, several bison were released into the wild, and three baby bison have already been born, two of those coming in 2020. At the end of last year, another two females were donated to the project from zoos in Hungary and Slovakia. When the new animals are eventually released into the wild, they will number 13.

4 . On a sunny afternoon, Andreas Fath climbed out of a river in Paducah. A small crowd was on hand to witness his setting a new world record. This man had just finished swimming the entire length of the Tennessee River—1,049 kilometers. And he did it in just 34 days!

As a chemist from Hochshule Furtwangen University, the 52-year-old man had taken on this swim for science. His primary goal was not to get his name into Guinness World Records. What really drove this swim was a desire to make people aware of the seriousness of water pollution.

Fath’s crew included his family. Martin Knoll, who helped organize Fath’s swim, also took par t. Knoll is an environmental scientist at the University of the South. He describes this swim as a vehicle for getting people interested in water quality and how we pollute water without realizing it.

It took Fath 34 days to swim the river’s length. Along the way, his crew took measurements of the water’s temperature and pH. They also recorded weather and the speed of the river’s currents (涌流). As for the Tennessee River, they collected daily water samples. A small plastic device attached to one leg of Fath’s wet suit sampled the chemical pollutants (污染物) through which he swam. Finally, Fath’s goal is to use such data to know what on earth results in water pollution. Then he wants to find ways to keep those chemicals out of the water.

Back in Germany, Fath and his students have finished examining their data. They plan to publish their findings soon. Identifying materials that hide in the river isn’t only important for the animals that live there. “It’s also a way to protect human health,” says Fath.

5 . Bill worked as a fireman for 17 years. He’s been proud of his bravery in risking his life to_________others. One emergency call_________him to poisonous chemicals, which later led to repeated strokes. Just at 37, the man, who had become accustomed to having the_________to save lives, now wasn’t able to button his own shirt or tie his own shoes.

Bill’s wife Daisy_________what would happen to Bill, and she suggested they add a_________to the family. So_________Coco. Coco was saved from the slum (贫民窟) and brought to America for_________by the nonprofit Puppy Rescue Mission. At the airport, as soon as Coco_________from his box, he peed (尿湿) all over Bill — and Bill burst into his first genuine_________in months — he got to love the dog!

After several months, Daisy was suddenly woken up by Coco’s__________barking. She went to see what was__________and found Bill had fallen down unconscious. Bill was rushed to the hospital—Coco had saved the day. And it wasn’t the__________time. When Coco would find Bill__________, he would call for help with his bark of warning.

“He’s always there watching me, helping me,__________I’m okay,” says Bill. “I’ve__________saved others, and now this lovely dog saves me, and that has to mean something. That has to mean I’m worth something after all.”

When we talk about climate change,we mean the unusual changes in the earth's weather patterns that     1     (happen)over the past 100 years.

It is true    2     the weather is always changing and sometimes the weather changes in ways we really don't expect. By     3     (record) the temperature of each day in many different parts of the world we can find the average global temperature. When all     4     (temperature)are taken together,we can expect ups and downs in the year to cancel each other out and the average temperature to stay roughly the same from one year to the next. However,scientists have found that the temperature is not constant and our planet is    5     (actual) getting warmer each year. This is called"global warming" and it is     6     major part of climate change.

Extreme changes in climate are nothing new on the earth. In     7     (it)long history,there have been times since the earth's average global temperature rose, causing ice     8     (melt)and sea levels to rise. At other times the earth has been very cold. These "ice ages"saw huge areas of the planet     9     (cover)with snow and ice. These might sound like extreme changes in the earth's climate,but they came out very gradually over thousands     10     years.

Coca-Cola    1     (rank) the world's No.1 plastic polluter by Break Free From Plastic and     2     (it) bottles were the most frequently found on beaches, rivers, parks and other litter sites. Last year it was the most     3     (frequent) littered bottle in 37 countries out of 51 surveyed.

The annual audit(审计)，    4     (undertake) by 15,000 volunteers around the world, identifies the largest number of plastic products from global brands found in the highest number of countries. This year they collected 346,494 pieces of plastic waste, 63% of     5    was marked with a consumer brand.

“The world's top polluting corporations claim to be working hard to solve plastic pollution,     6     they are continuing to pump out     7     ( harm) single-use plastic packaging,” said Emma Priestland, Break Free From Plastic's global campaign coordinator (协调员). Priestland said the only way to quit the growing global tide of plastic litter was to stop production.

Coca-Cola came under fire from environmental campaigners earlier this year when it announced it would not abandon plastic bottles, saying they     8     (be) popular with customers. In March, Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Nestle and Unilever were found to be responsible     9     half a million tonnes of plastic pollution in six developing     10     (country) each year in a survey.

9 . One of the greatest challenges in caring for such intelligent animals as chimpanzees (猩猩) is providing them with enriching experiences. Every day, the chimpanzees at Project Chimps receive morning and evening food-based enrichment devices, but caregivers are always looking for more ways to keep the chimps mentally engaged. With 79 chimpanzees, each with their distinctive personality, care staff often find that different chimps react differently to new enrichment.

Last year, we began inviting musicians to perform for chimps to see what they may respond. A violin performance received quite the response. Additional musicians were lined up to visit but the coronavirus has stopped the activities, which we hope to resume in the near future.

This past week, we brought an electric piano for the chimps to investigate. Some chimps, like twins Buttercup and Clarisse, were immediately interested and could not wait to tap out a few notes. Others, like Emma, were more interested in trying to take it apart.

29-year-old Precious has very little tolerance for the piano. She sat off to the side for a few minutes, but eventually she decided that was enough. She called an end to the enrichment session by throwing a handful of waste at the piano. Receiving her message loud and clear, we removed the piano.

We could never have guessed how 33-year-old Luke would react to it. As with many retired lab chimpanzees, Luke has some anxiety issues. He seems particularly distrustful of anything new, including people, food, and enrichment. But when we presented the chimps with the piano, Luke was the first to investigate. We could not believe our eyes—this usually anxious chimpanzee bravely chose to explore something new!

To us at Project Chimps, this is what it is all about: giving chimpanzees the freedom to choose. We are honored to be part of their journey.

10 . British sculptor Jason Taylor has made it his mission to use his talent to conserve our ecosystems by creating underwater museums. Over the years, the environmentalist has put over 850 massive artworks underwater worldwide. On February 1, 2021, Taylor launched his latest work---The Underwater Museum of Cannes.

“The main goal was to bring attention to the fact that our oceans need our help,” Taylor told Dezeen. “Ocean ecologies have been destroyed by human activity in the Mediterranean over the past few decades, and it is not obvious what is taking place when observing the sea from afar.”

The Underwater Museum of Cannes contains 6 sculptures featuring local residents of various ages. They range from Maurice, an 80-year-old fisherman, to Anouk, a 9-year-old student. Towering over 6-feet-tall and weighing 10 tons, the faces are sectioned into two parts, with the outer part like a mask. The mask indicates that the world’s oceans appear powerful and unbeatable from the surface but house an ecosystem that is extremely fragile to careless human activities.

Though the waters surrounding the sculptures now appear a pristine blue, the seabed was filled with old boat engines, pipes, and other human-made trash when the project began about four years ago. Besides removing the trash, Taylor also restored the area’s seagrass. Just one square meter of the seagrass can generate up to 10 liters of oxygen daily. The seagrass also helps prevent coastal erosion and provides habitats for many ocean creatures.

“The idea of creating an underwater museum was to draw more people underwater and develop a sense of care and protection,” Taylor told Dezeen. “If we threw unwanted waste near a forest, there would be a public outcry. But this is happening every day in our surrounding waters and it largely goes unnoticed.”